The Other Way Of Stopping, Part 1 - Wilwood Front Disc Brakes

11 It’s time to move over the workbench and start putting together the first hub-and-rotor assembly. Fortunately Wilwood provides step-by-step directions to walk you through the process.

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12 Lovell begins by applying Lucas "Red 'n' Tacky #2" grease to the inner (shown) and outer wheel bearings. As we noted earlier, the Wilwood bearings use a modern roller configuration.

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13 The bearings then go into the hub, as shown here. Note that in this photo, the seal has not yet been installed.

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14 After tapping in the seal with a rubber mallet, Lovell applies blue Loctite to the hub studs before torquing them down.

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15 The next step is to bolt the hub to the rotor adapter, again using Loctite on the threads.

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16 Before affixing the rotor to the adapter (using more Loctite, natch), we snapped this photo of its internal vanes. The vanes greatly improve cooling as compared with the old solid-rotor configurations.

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17 Here’s the completed hub-and-rotor assembly, ready to bolt up to the car.

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18 Since the original spindle wasn’t designed to accommodate disc brakes, Wilwood helpfully includes this caliper-mounting bracket. You’ll need to bolt it into place (yep, more Loctite) before installing the new brakes.

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19 It’s time to bolt on the hub and rotor, applying some extra grease to the spindle-nut area along the way.

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20 While you can reuse your old spindle nut, you will need to install the new, thicker washer (right) that comes with the Wilwood kit.

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21 Here’s the finished assembly, complete with nut and washer. Give yourself bonus points if something looks a little "off" in this photo.

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22 That’s right: We installed the left-side rotor on the right side of the car—this, despite the fact that Wilwood includes directional indicators on each one. Always remember to check your work as you go!

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23 After straightening out our rotor snafu, it was time to bolt on the new natty, Wilwood four-piston calipers. They come with matching high- performance pads, one of which Lovell is shown installing here.

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24 The caliper then bolts to the previously installed adapter…

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25 …and the first half of our front-brake upgrade is complete. Note that the protective black coating on the rotors will wear off with use, revealing a gleaming silver finish beneath.

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26 With the wheel reinstalled, the transformative nature of our brake upgrade starts to become apparent.

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27 Our kit offered a choice of black-anodized or red-powdercoated calipers. We chose the latter, both to match the Signet Red finish of the car and to draw attention to the upgrade itself. Snazzy, no?

The front half of our brake upgrade comprised a pair Forged Dynalite Pro rotors, along with four-piston calipers. (We’ll install the master cylinder in Part 2.) Note that Wilwood’s kits come complete with pads, hoses, and a full complement of installation hardware.

The front half of our brake upgrade comprised a pair Forged Dynalite Pro rotors, along with four-piston calipers. (We’ll install the master cylinder in Part 2.) Note that Wilwood’s kits come complete with pads, hoses, and a full complement of installation hardware.

For those who want to stop in a shorter distance in your Chevy muscle check out our 1964 Chevy Chevelle project car that gets a front disc brake conversion with Classic Performance Products Brembo Grand Turismo front brake system kit. Only at www.chevyhiperformance.com, the official website for Chevy High Performance Magazine. » Read More